XN000022-1996-04-24 — Page 33

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Significant stride in intellectual property protection.

Hong Kong has made a significant stride in intellectual property protection with the passage of the Intellectual Property (World Trade Organisation Amendments) Bill by the Legislative Council today (Wednesday).

A spokesman for the Trade and Industry Branch said: "We are pleased to see that the Bill was supported and passed by the Legislative Council today.

"It enables Hong Kong to meet its obligations under the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), of which Hong Kong is a founding member.

"The early enactment of the Bill, some three and a half years ahead of the stipulated deadline of the TRIPS Agreement, will help to demonstrate to other WTO Members Hong Kong's total and firm commitment to a high level of intellectual property protection.

"It shows that Hong Kong is living up to its international reputation as a staunch supporter of intellectual property protection, and is a responsible trading partner in the multilateral trading system. It reinforces our position as an international trading and services centre in the world," the spokesman said.

The main features of the Bill passed by the Legislative Council include -

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new copyright piracy offence provisions to make it an offence for any person to manufacture outside Hong Kong for export to Hong Kong pirated copyright goods. Any person who, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere, aids, abets or procures such activities will also be liable to the same offence.

This will help tackle masterminds of cross-border copyright piracy activities more effectively;

new customs border measures to enable copyright and trademark owners to apply for court orders to detain suspected imports of pirated copyright or counterfeiting goods so as to facilitate their initiation of civil proceedings. This measure is in addition to the existing criminal enforcement by the Hong Kong Customs;

new provisions to facilitate disclosure of information by the Hong Kong Customs to copyright owners for civil actions and border measures, and to other Customs authorities for international cooperation;